YouTube TV today made its debut on the PlayStation 4. It takes the place of PlayStation Vue, which Sony is rather reluctantly winding down at the end of this month, as the platform’s sole live TV service.
Consider this your new TV remote: ?
YouTube TV is now available on PS4: https://t.co/nxzEx8AVpV pic.twitter.com/Goodsm3Df4
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) January 21, 2020
This makes Google the first third-party company to get a tv subscription service on the PS4. Sony’s agreement was most likely begrudging, given that it tried so hard to make Vue work. You can also find Netflix and similar movie apps on the PS Store, but YouTube TV offers, as the name implies, television programming.
[Read: You can stream NBC Universal’s Peacock service for free]
Honestly, I’m a little surprised that it chose YouTube TV, given that PS Vue bore the closest resemblance to Sling out of all the subscription services. Vue is more of an a la carte service, while YouTube TV is more like a traditional cable subscription, offering a multitude of familiar channels. Still, given the dearth of other options for PS4 owners who want to use their devices as media centers, this is a decent replacement.
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Until a YouTube TV engineer hinted at the app’s arrival on Reddit this weekend, I wouldn’t have guessed anything would replace Vue. John Kodera, Sony Interactive Entertainment Deputy President, implied in his announcement that Sony was getting out of the TV game entirely: “Unfortunately, the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected. Because of this, we have decided to remain focused on our core gaming business.”
To download the YouTube TV app, go to the Store on your PS4 and find the Apps section. YouTube TV holds the featured spot at time of writing. It offers over 70 channels including news and live sports, and new subscribers can use the free trial to test it out.
PlayStation Vue is set to make its final exit on January 30.
(via The Verge)
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